Become a partner

It’s easy—and rewarding—to become an Industry Preferred Partner of the Northwest Career Colleges Federation. Join the outstanding vendors, service providers and professional organizations who have partnered with the Northwest Career Colleges Federation.

What's new

The Careers That Work! Scholarship program makes available five $1000 scholarships to every high school – public and private – in Oregon, Washington and Idaho to award to graduating seniors headed to one of the NWCCF participating member colleges. This includes alternative high schools and skill centers. High schools select the recipients.

Did you know?

The first recorded private "venture" school opened in 1705 in Colonial America, the first business college opened in Washington in 1886 and Perry Technical Institute opened in 1941, making it the oldest, continuously operating private career college in Washington.

About us

The Northwest Career Colleges Federation is a passionate and effective advocate for private career colleges and schools in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Since our founding in 1969, we have proudly represented the interests of hundreds of member institutions, their leadership, their faculty and thousands of students served by members.

We believe that career education is essential to the region’s economy and makes an enormously positive contribution to thousands of graduates entering the job market with the valuable skills and education and training attained from attending our member schools.

How we make a difference

NWCCF provides a range of valuable services, including:

Advocacy in state and federal governments for private career colleges and schools.

Programs to enhance career education delivery.

Growth opportunities for education professionals and leaders.

Media and member outreach to increase awareness of the issues affecting career education.

We work closely with state legislatures, government officials and regulatory agencies to advocate for support and development of the region’s private career colleges and schools and the students who attend them. Our executive director, state directors, legislative lobbyists and proactive board of directors work to ensure that private career colleges are recognized as an essential component of higher education.

The NWCCF helps career colleges and schools achieve continuing educational excellence. Here’s a summary of how we help.

Our priorities

We are dedicated to promoting career education through:

Enhancing awareness, understanding and responsiveness among the leadership of the membership to state and federal initiatives affecting career colleges.

Delivering critical information to members and key target audiences.

Provide opportunity to strengthen educational performance and market demand for graduates by providing professional training programs and resources.

Promote private career colleges as vital partners in providing educational and career opportunities for a highly competitive economy.

Our activities

We pursue our mission through strategic action in these five areas:

Governmental affairs. Our members work with the association’s executive director and chief lobbyists to proactively advance legislation and regulations favorable to career education. We also build positive working relationships with legislative leaders and regulatory officials, keeping our membership informed of our positions, approaches and progress.

Member communications. Our Board of Directors facilitates dialogue between member schools through regular meetings and communication options. We provide members with critical information that keeps them informed on important issues vital to education.

Awareness building. We raise the awareness of career colleges’ importance within the regional economy and promote the positive impact of the education attained at our member colleges to key government officials, educational leadership and the business community.

Professional development. We offer growth opportunities for member school staff, administration and faculty, recognizing that life-long learning is essential. Our highly regarded continuing education programs are necessary in these dynamic times of change.

Strategic planning. The Board sets NWCCF’s future direction by listening to its members. Based on their needs, we develop programs and services that add value and improve quality for all our members.